Letters from war
by lizzieten
Summary: Darry recives a letter he never expected.
1. Chapter 1

Letters from war

Mr. Curtis,

I am writing to inform you of your brother's heroic actions. On the evening of March 9th, our platoon went out on a mission. I was down, and your brother instead, of pulling out like he was ordered came back after me. He saved my life but in doing so he was captured. I wanted to inform you that a mission is being planned on getting him back, I intend to be one of those going. I will bring him back one way or the other, be it dead or alive, he will not be left behind. He will be brought home; it's in our creed that no one gets left behind.

After all he has done for me, it's only right that he is retrieved and brought back to the family that loves him. His bravery is what stands out the most about him, I can honestly say I wish the best and I hope things turn out well, when we go retrieve him. I don't know what his condition will be in, but I pray that he is returned to you in at least a decent shape, know that I will do all that I can to see to it that he is. I think your brother is one of the bravest young men I know and I want to extend my thanks to the family that made him the way he is.

Sincerely,

Private Andrew Malone.

Darry couldn't believe what he was reading; his youngest brother was currently MIA. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and willed the letter away. He didn't want to have to tell Sodapop about Ponyboy's current status after all Soda wasn't very happy about Ponyboy going off into the military in the first place. He wished with all his heart Pony had given college a chance but nonetheless the younger Curtis had joined the military and was now stationed overseas.

**Okay so that's a start I hope you enjoy it and if you want it to continue, I can promise the chapters will get longer so please give it a chance. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Liz **


	2. Chapter 2

Letters from war

Chapter two:

Private Ponyboy Curtis sighed and wiped at the sweat that glistened on his face. He was currently guarding Camp middle of nowhere in a desert. He hoped today wouldn't be a day they would be overtaken by tangos or in other words, the guys the war was being fought against. The whole war had started two years ago and was still going strong. They were fighting against a strong enemy, but they weren't about to give up and walk away. They were fighting for freedom, something Ponyboy strongly believed in.

Ponyboy wondered how his brothers were doing without him. They had both understandably been pretty upset when he had decided he would rather fight for his country and go to war. They didn't seem to understand how strongly Ponyboy felt about it. He couldn't really explain it himself other than the fact; he felt he had to do something to help protect the nation he lived in. It's funny he had never really considered himself a patriot until a senseless act took place on ground of the nation. Sighing, as he once again wiped at the sweat pouring off his forehead, he almost wished he had taken Darry's advice and had gone to college. He had been standing watch for the last four hours which meant he still had another two hours till he was finally able to go rest. He was ready to hit the showers, the temperature was nearing 112 degrees, and Ponyboy was practically bathing in his own sweat. A shower was his first order of business as soon as he was finished with his guard duty.

A few minutes before his two hours were up, he heard gunshots, and it wasn't very far from where the entrance to Camp Fearless. Ponyboy tightened his grip on his rifle and stared off into the distance, no enemy was walking through their gate alive.

"Curtis change of plans, you're not on guard duty anymore" Captain Brown said approaching from the mess hall.

"What's going on sir?" Ponyboy asked still watching the gunfight going on in the distance.

"One of our platoons was ambushed; we're mounting an operation to get them out of trouble." Brown replied. "Go get in some fresh camo's and get ready to go."

"Yes, sir" Ponyboy said leaving his post and heading towards his so called room. It took him five minutes to get dressed and headed towards the locker room, in which most of their ammunition and weapons were kept. Once he was within the fenced in area he quickly went to where they had the M4 assault rifle rounds. He wasn't sure how many he would need so he grabbed several magazines which were filled with twenty bullets, each but had a reserve of forty bullets alongside it.

Once finished inside the ammo locker, Ponyboy went to meet with the team he was assigned to go out with.

"Curtis has finally arrived" called a short, black haired man in his late twenties called. "what took you so long?"

"I had guard duty and then Captain Brown informed me I was going on this raid and I had to change into some fresh cloths and go grab some more rounds" Ponyboy replied. He genuinely liked this guy, Sam Weston reminded him of Two-Bit and in the ways that he was always cutting up, never being serious. Just being around him lightened his mood made him think less of being away from home and his brothers.

The other guy was as tall as he was serious, going by the name of Adam Wilson, he was pretty cocky and didn't much like Ponyboy and Ponyboy still wasn't sure if he liked him yet or not, reminded him too much of Steve Randle. The other six guys were mixtures of both seriousness and immaturity and Ponyboy wasn't too sure he could trust some of them to have his back, but the Randle and Two-bit wannabe's he was pretty sure he could trust. Trust Ponyboy to compare everybody to someone from home, he guessed it just made him a little less homesick to think of everyone like the gang members from Tulsa.

Thirty minutes later the small group took off in three armored Humvees, towards the direction of the firefight. They closer they got the more nervous Ponyboy became; he hadn't actually been in the middle of a gunfight yet. But the army had trained him well for what he was about to face. So Ponyboy figured he could handle it, one sweat drop at a time.

"Hey, pansy, going to chicken out?" Adam Wilson called back from the front seat; everyone knew he was talking to Ponyboy, especially since this was Ponyboy's first tour of duty.

"I'm no chicken" Ponyboy replied deciding he really didn't like the guy; he just acted too much like Steve Randle to suit him. Even half way around the world he couldn't get away from him.

"Leave him alone, Wilson, I'm sure you were plenty nervous on your first battle." Sam said. It didn't matter what the situation was Sam always had Ponyboy's back. Ponyboy could almost see Adam rolling his eyes but was glad when the older man didn't have anything else to add to the current conversation.

Five minutes later Ponyboy found himself kneeling behind a concrete wall that had been blown apart. Whenever he caught sight of the enemy, he would make sure he had a clean shot, and had to make sure the guy had a weapon in his hands, due to ROE's (rules of engagement), that would ensure that no innocent person was killed or harmed in the American crossfire.

While it seemed the exchange of gunfire had lasted for ages, in reality it had only lasted twenty minutes; before Ponyboy's CO had realized they were drastically outnumbered and had ordered them to retreat. As Ponyboy had fled from safety barrier he noticed they had one of the soldiers from the other platoon on the ground ready to shoot him. Knowing he was disobeying a direct order by not retreating, Ponyboy rushed headlong into the fray shooting those who stood in his way. it didn't take long for the young man to be released, Ponyboy was shocked to discover he looked a lot like his older brother Soda, and was glad he at least had made the effort to help out.

"Name?" Ponyboy asked kneeling beside the badly injured soldier.

"Private Andrew Malone" he replied.

"Well, private I say it's time to get you home." Ponyboy kneeled and tugged him over his shoulders. At least one American soldier had survived from the platoon they had been sent to pull out.

Ponyboy began the short journey towards the Humvees that sat waiting. They didn't see the guy creeping up behind them, didn't know he was there until the young soldier was knocked off Ponyboy's shoulder's and sent sprawling across the sand.

"Leave him he'll probably die" one of the dark haired men said when one of his younger charges went after the Malone. "This one outranks him, maybe we can get information on his army's doings from him." The guy pointed his gun at Ponyboy.

He looked up from the ground to see Ponyboy's teammates coming towards them and he grabbed a grenade from his weapons pouch, pulling the pin out, he tossed it in the direction of the soldiers.

**So I am officially tired! Two chapters in one day, can't do that all the time but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Anyways thanks for reading and reviewing, Liz**


	3. Chapter 3

Letters from war

Chapter 3

Darry stared at the letter in his hand, his emotions warring against each other. Immense Pride at what Ponyboy had done, right next to worry about Ponyboy's whereabouts, and his condition.

"Pony, when I tell Soda; he'll kill me and then he'll kill you for making him worry." Darry murmured. Taking a deep breath he left the kitchen to go find Soda, in the living room. He sighed he had no idea how he was going to tell this to him. Soda adored Pony much like Darry did himself.

"Come on man, Pony could have thought of something better than that" Two-bit called out to Steve as the two entered the house behind Sodapop. At the mention of Ponyboy, Soda frowned and Steve scowled.

"If he was so smart why did he join the military instead of going to college?" Steve asked.

"Being patriotic doesn't make him an idiot" Johnny said, from where he was sitting beside Dallas on the couch.

"If you say so" Steve muttered sitting down on the floor beside the couch. Leaning back against it he sighed, as much as loathed to admit it, the Curtis house wasn't the same without the younger Curtis.

"I'm glad you guys are here" Darry said coming out of the kitchen. "I got a letter today, from a Private Andrew Malone."

"Does he matter in the grand scheme of things?" Dallas asked bored. Unlike everybody else he wasn't so interested in hearing anything about the military.

"Believe it or not yes it does" Darry said "he was telling me his platoon got ambushed and Pony's team was the one that responded" Darry said "Private Malone was about to be killed when Pony interfered and he was taken captive."

Soda stared at Darry unblinkingly, finally after a few minutes he shook his head in disbelief.

"Tell me you're not serious?" he asked, barely able to stomach what Darry was telling him.

"Unfortunately I am" Darry said "and to make matters worse, they don't know Pony's current condition, and whoever it was that took him will most likely torture him for information." Soda jumped to his feet and raced towards the restroom, the sound of vomiting was heard just a few minutes later.

Steve looked sick at the thought of Ponyboy being tortured. He didn't like the kid but that didn't mean he wanted harm to come to him.

"If they don't get what they want from him?" Two-Bit asked bleakly and seriously for once no sign of his good humor.

"He will probably be killed." Darry said, aching for his younger brother. In that instant he wished he could trade places with him. He wanted to spare Ponyboy from the pain that would surely come, if they hadn't killed him already.

Steve having felt like he'd gotten the breath knocked out of him, stood, and walked towards the restroom. He knew Soda wouldn't be accepting of what Darry had just told him. He was still having a hard time believing it himself. Knocking on the restroom door, Steve let himself in before Soda had a chance to answer. Like Steve expected Soda was kneeling in front of the toilet. He sat down beside him and placed his hand on his friends back.

"How could something like that happen to Ponyboy?" Soda asked and Steve could hear the pain in his voice. "He doesn't deserve to be tortured; god knows the pain he'll be put through."

"No, he doesn't" Steve agreed "But he knew the risks when he joined the military, there is no use in torturing yourself over this. You can only hope and pray that he is found without too much harm." Steve said hurting for his friend, wanting desperately to be able to change things.

Darry sat down in his arm chair and ran his hands through his hair. He could tell his friends were shocked by the way they all seemed to have stopped breathing. He still didn't want to believe it. he prayed that Ponyboy would be strong enough to make it through the storm that was coming. Darry knew it was going to get bad for his little brother and he wished to spare him.

**Sorry it's so short guys but I am about to have a really bad storm come through and I want to get this posted before it does. So please pardon any errors and I can promise its going to get pretty interesting in the coming chapters. Thanks for reading reviewing. Liz**


	4. Chapter 4

Letter's from war

Chapter 4

Ponyboy regained consciousness, on a stiff tabletop like board, his arms were stretched out to the sides and they were tied down with rope. That was already starting to chafe at his skin. Ponyboy did not have to think to know what they were going to do to him, apparently waterboarding still was not considered cruel and unusual in foreign countries. He dreaded when they would start, he knew it was not something he was going to forget anytime soon. The last thing he remembered before being captured was saving the one soldier from certain death. He hoped the soldier would be all right. No telling what kind of psychological problems the young man would have. No telling what kind of issues he would have if he managed to get out of the situation that he was currently facing. He hoped that if Darry and Sodapop learned about the circumstances he was currently facing, that they would not worry too much. However, he knew telling Darry and Soda not to worry was like telling a tree not to grow, it could not be done. As he lay there thinking about the torture that was going to befall him, he prayed that his brothers never found out. He did not want them to stress about him, they had more than enough to worry about back home.

After lying on the board for what had seemed like ages but in reality was only a half hour. Ponyboy wondered if they would torture him to death by making him wait for a century. Not that he was in any hurry to get hurt; he was not by any means. He was just tired of waiting for them to decide what they wanted to get out of him.

He did not have to wait much longer, only another ten minutes before the door opened and a rather hairy, scarily tall man walked in. Ponyboy took an instant disliking to him immediately and dubbed him Steve. He had a feeling, most of the pain he would feel would be by this person and not the other two that had followed him into the room. He also decided that no matter how much they hurt him, he would not give them the information they wanted. It was a decision that would most likely come back to haunt him in the end, but Ponyboy would not betray his country. He watched wearily as the short, fat man approached him with a bandana like cloth in his hands. Ponyboy scowled and tried to turn his head away as moron number one attempted to tie it over his nose and mouth, in the cowboy fashion when they wanted to keep dirt out of their mouth. This earned him a hard slap across his face, from Steve. Ponyboy glared at him, remaining defiant. They could hurt him all they wanted but they would not get anything.

Steve smirked at the look on Ponyboy's face; apparently, the American did not know much about what he was planning. He did not want information, he just wanted any and every American to suffer as his family had for the entirety of this war. He had a feeling he had enjoy hurting this one young American. He just had a look about him that said his spirit would be hard to break. That was the way he liked his victims because in the end they always broke. This one would be no different.

He nodded towards his apprentice and watched, as he was finally able to get the cloth over the boy's nose and mouth. He nodded toward the other man in the room, who walked out and got his jug of water. Once he had his jug, he walked over to stand beside Ponyboy's head. Doing this would bring him a great amount of pleasure.

When Steve walked over Ponyboy could literally see pure evil in his eyes, and he wanted to shiver just from the intensity of it, but he was bound too tightly. A person could walk through hell and not find the kind of evil that was in this person. Even Soda's best friend was not anything like this and for once Ponyboy thought about being nicer to the guy if he made it out of this mess he was in.

A few seconds later Ponyboy felt the sensation of water being poured over his face, and try as he might, he was unable to keep it from pouring into his mouth. He fought the urge to panic because he knew that is what this Satan wanted him to do, he got a kick out of hurting people. Moreover, Ponyboy being defiant was determined he would not show his fear. However, it was the sensation that made him feel like he was drowning, and he slowly began to writhe against the restraints. He had nearly drowned once, and had never wanted to experience it again but here it was once more being forced upon him. Ponyboy struggled so hard, within five minutes he had felt his wrist snap, and crying out in agony and ended up sucking in more water. A few minutes later when Ponyboy was barely consciousness the flood of water stopped and he was once more able to suck in air instead of water. Once it had stopped Ponyboy nearly cried in relief, that had been a hell of a lot harder to take then he had expected. it would take more than that to get him talking, he wouldn't be caught betraying the country he fought so hard to protect. It would take a hell of lot more than waterboarding, to make him talk. One way or the other Ponyboy would prove just how rebellious and yet patriotic he was.

**That was a tough chapter to write, and the torture technique I described still happens, which is downright scary, I certainly have want to experience it. anyways thanks for reading and reviewing. Have a great rest of the weekend. Liz**


	5. Chapter 5

Letters from war

Chapter five

_Ponyboy,_

_We just got a letter informing us that you have gone missing. I can't even begin to tell you about the fear I felt. I can only imagine what you are going through right now, and knowing that they are trying their hardest to break you. I know you will be strong and not tell them what they want to know. That's what worries me the most, the more you try not to say anything, the harder they try to hurt you. I can't imagine the pain you are in now; it hurts my heart to even think of you in pain. I wish I could take your place, I would in an instant. I wish I could protect you from all of this. But at the same time I am so proud of the decisions you have made to get you where you are today. You are making everyone proud, even Darry, we all miss you like crazy, and we're praying that you make it home safe. I'm sorry you have to go through this, but I know you wouldn't have it any other way. You won't allow someone else to be hurt in your place. I'm so proud, you are the man mom and dad always prayed you would become, they would be so very proud of you as well. Missing you and praying you are brought home soon _

_ Sodapop Curtis _

Soda sighed as he read the letter he had written Ponyboy. It was true that he couldn't stand the thought of Pony being tortured but he knew Pony wouldn't let one of his teammates to go through it either. He wished he could go to Iraq and bring him home himself. Alas he didn't think that would go over well with Ponyboy's commanders. Sighing, Soda sat back in his chair and stretched. He had never once imagined his little brother would go off to war instead of college, he wished now more than ever he could have changed Ponyboy's mind, cause who knows what kind of shape he would be in when he came home…if he came home. Soda wondered if he would be able to help Ponyboy deal with the trauma that came from his military career. He could only hope so; he didn't want Ponyboy to become one of those homeless veterans that seemed to be on every street now. There was no way Soda could let that happen to someone like Ponyboy.

Hearing a knock on his door, Soda turned and faced the door figuring it would be Steve there to offer his help. It was Darry.

"I can't believe he's a POW" Soda said turning away from Darry to stare out the window. The same Ponyboy had often sat and stared out when he was younger.

Darry sighed and sat down on the bed, that was sitting next to the window.

"I keep thinking if there had only been a way I could have made him stay home and not go into the military then maybe this wouldn't be happening" Darry said looking down at his hands. "I never have been able to get Pony to really understand what I mean. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I wish he had listened."

"Pony's stubborn" Soda agreed smiling at the thought of how Pony had always been quick to disagree with practically anything Darry said. "But he always fights for what he believes in. so I don't think you could have stopped him from joining the military."

"I know it" Darry said thinking back to all the fights the two of them had gotten into when Ponyboy had been younger. "He could have saved himself from a lot of trouble if he had just listened to me" Darry commented with a light laugh.

"That's not how Ponyboy works, he learns best by making his own mistakes" Soda said.

"I've slowly learned that" Darry said "I just wanted to protect him from the harsher lessons."

"Pony knows that now," Soda said "I think he gets a lot of his fight from you. You're both damn determined to do what you think is the right thing whether it is or not."

"I wish he had listened to me about joining the military" Darry muttered "I just don't want to see him end up like all the other veteran's either homeless or loaded down with so many problems he can't deal and ends up taking his own life."

"That's not going to happen" Soda said "he has us and the gang to help him and you know we're all going to everything we can to make sure he ends up alright when he comes home."

"That's if he comes home" Darry said "there are no promises that they will be able to retrieve him. They don't even know if he is still alive."

"I can't think about Pony being dead" Soda said quietly "to me that's like giving up on him and I just can't do that, I have to believe that's he still alive otherwise I'd go crazy." They talked for a little while more before Soda decided to join the rest of the guys in front of the TV in the living room.

"If I have to I will go over to Iraq and free Pony myself" Two-Bit loudly proclaimed raising his beer to his mouth.

"How do you plan on getting there?" Soda asked "You can't afford to fly cause you haven't worked a day in your life."

"Now that's not true" Two-Bit protested before grinning. "I would swim if I had to after all there is no ocean too deep or too big that I couldn't cross."

"Right" Steve muttered "I can see you now begging a shark for a ride because it's too much work to swim."

"Shark would eat him for spite" Dallas said "he wouldn't make it a mile from the nearest beach."

"Oh ye of little faith" Two-Bit muttered "the things I am willing to put up with." Soda rolled his eyes. He wished swimming across an ocean was all it would take to bring Pony home and away from the pain he was surely facing. He would do it in a heartbeat, he couldn't bear the thought of his baby brother in pain.

**Sorry it took so long to update been busy working on some of my other stories. Next chapter will go back to Ponyboy's point of view. Hope you enjoyed this one thanks for reading and reviewing. Liz.**


	6. Chapter 6

Letters from War

Chapter 6

Pain. Pain is the only thing Ponyboy feels when he opens his eyes. His body was just one intense wave of agony. The terrorists must have continued to beat him while he was unconscious. That was the only way to explain why Ponyboy feels worse now than when he was being water boarded.

"Sadistic bastards" Ponyboy moaned as he attempted to raise his arm to wipe away the sweat that had started to form on his forehead. A stabbing pain went through his arm leaving him gasping for air; it was more than obvious now that they had badly broken his arm. Ponyboy moaned he didn't know what these guys wanted, was it info or did they just want to torture him for the fun of it. He was suddenly coughed harshly as he felt something in the back of his throat, the coughing only made the pain worse, his broken ribs hurt in more, adding even more agonizing pain to what he was already feeling. Closing his eyes, Ponyboy struggled to breathe through the pain. He somehow needed to have a way to escape from the pain and torture otherwise; this battle would end a hell of a lot sooner than Ponyboy wanted it too. He wanted to go home alive, not die overseas a million miles away from his brothers.

_"Ponyboy, hurry up!" an impatient eight year old Sodapop hollered, their family was going to go pick up their Christmas tree, and Soda was just a bit tired of waiting on his slower younger brother._

_ "Slow down" the four year old panted as he struggled to push his little legs faster. "You move too fast" Soda chuckled softly as he bent down and formed a snow ball out of the small amount of snow they'd received the night before._

_ "Hurry up or I'll throw a snow ball" Soda taunted though he knew his little brother loved snow ball fights, and didn't mind all that much about being hit with the cold wet stuff that seemed to decorate everything around them. _

_ "I'm twying" Ponyboy muttered as he was nailed in the face with the snowball, Sodapop had been building. _

_ "We don't have time for this" Darry said coming out of the house, with their father right behind them. They paused briefly for their father to pick the young Ponyboy up out of the snow. He carried the youngster to their truck and sat him in between Darry and Sodapop. _

_ A few hours later they had the perfect tree picked out, and on the way thirty minute drive home, Ponyboy leaned over on Sodapop and closed his eyes, Sodapop just smiled and wrapped his arm around the little boy's shoulders holding him close. _

Ponyboy had no idea how he still remembered that memory of when he was younger but he was glad he did, for just a remarkable few minutes he'd been taken away from his pain. Tears formed in the tired man's eyes, he was tired, he'd been fighting pain for the past several hours, and the pain just seemed to drain every ounce of his energy. Ponyboy knew that wasn't a good thing, he needed to somehow get himself out of this situation if he didn't he wouldn't be going home alive. 

Hearing a door behind him Ponyboy stifled his groan, he wouldn't show these guys just how much they were hurting him, and they didn't deserve that satisfaction. Without words being spoken the heavily bearded one approached and grabbed a hold of Ponyboy's broken arm and gave it a sharp twist. Ponyboy closed his eyes; they wouldn't get in satisfaction out of hurting him, not by a long shot.

_"You're not holding it correctly" A 19 year old Darry explained to his twelve year old brother, "You have to hold it like this if you want it the ball to go far" he adjusted his little brother's grip and watched proudly as Ponyboy drew back and then launched the pigskin for all he was worth. _

_ "That's it you got it" Darry said laughing at the simple joy he saw in his excited little brother's eyes when the kid had turned around to look at him. _

_ "Now all you have to do is keep practicing, eventually your throw will improve even more." _

_ "You're the best big brother" Ponyboy exclaimed as he threw his arms around his older brother's waist. _

_ "You're not too bad yourself kid" Darry said chuckling glad that he was able to help his brother in such a simple way. He didn't often show it but he was willing to do anything and everything for his little brothers, even if it meant taking time out of his busy schedule to teach his brother's how to throw a football. _

_ A little later, Darry found himself walking both Sodapop and Ponyboy to the movies. He wasn't crazy about them but Ponyboy had begged until Darry had thought he was going to go crazy, he could never say no. though he didn't know in a few hours their lives were about to change forever. He didn't know that he'd be forced to grow up much faster than he should have been, forced to work harder than anyone should have too. But he willingly took all that on his shoulders because he loved his brothers and didn't want to see them go off to a boy's home. Neither would survive very long, especially if they weren't able to be together. _

Darry was the strength that had saved Pony and Soda when they were younger. Maybe somehow Darry could save Pony now even if it wasn't physical, mentally he could help him escape the pain he was feeling.

"Save me Darry" the plea escapes Ponyboy's lip as a harsh cry of pain is forced out, bringing him out of his mental escape. Tears rolled down Ponyboy's face as the two men once again began beating him. He couldn't take much more of this; it would drive him insane from all the pain.

"Darry, Soda" Ponyboy moans again as the beating continually got worse until he finally felt darkness closing in, and he surrendered to the darkness.

Sorry it took so long to update! Been a little busy. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading and reviewing and Have a GREAT week. Liz


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